A huge hit from the heyday of living room video games is back, but now in multiplayer - in fact, there have been other games in the franchise beyond single player, however, they have’nt received the attention they are expected to receive here. The Crash Bandicoot franchise, now  it comes with strong intentions to enter this world for good, conquering players who see the game as a great competition to be beaten. Developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S, the game hit the markets on June 20, 2023.

In this context, Crash Team Rumble brings a new vision of multiplayer to the franchise since 2019, with Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, here, what was a kart race will become an insane battle in 4 versus 4 arenas with the objective of collecting as many wumpas as possible. So, in addition to this transformation, think of the Crash classics: crates, wumpas, speed spins, masks, platforms… Add new items and dynamics… and then Crash Team Rumble is born.

In theory, it's quite difficult to think of something functional for the world of this franchise with many players at the same time, at least to the big fans of single player games, however, with some negative caveats that I will mention later, the games here are surprisingly functional and fun. This only happens because there are some possible variations in each battle, (something I consider very similar to MOBA features), with regard to team formation, that is, all characters have unique characteristics, whether in skills or classes, to form the most harmonious team possible to win the match.



Start simple but connected

As proud as you are, not everything will need to be learned by force, in fact, few actions will be unknown if you pay close attention to the initial tutorial, which will teach you all the basic moves, some combat points and also the objectives of the match. Realistically, the mechanics are simple and made for all audiences, a new player is completely capable of fighting more experienced players here, because what will really win the matches is the strategy when it comes to winning, to complete the 2000 wumpas quickly and at the same time to prevent the opponent from collecting.

For this, you need to be connected with all the details, starting with the formation of the team, which, even if you are not playing with a closed team of friends, it is necessary to think collectively at all times, even if that means taking an unwanted class , there are 3 of them: 

Scorers: characters whose speed is superior to the others, their focus should be collecting and fighting one on one, as they also have more resources to do so.

Blockers: are those with more protection skills, both to prevent the enemy from scoring (occupying the rival base) and to help the team score (protecting the allied base), even, in some moments it is good to collect boosts (the which I will explain later), especially at the beginning of the game.

Supports: these are the characters with the most versatility, to be honest, they can fit in different moments of the game, however, it is important that the supports pay attention to collecting key points in addition to the fruits, to facilitate the movement of the team. For example: Bandicatapulta (a kind of trampoline that throws the characters a long distance), Uka Uka (yes, the famous one, which here will transform the characters into strength and makes meteors fall from the sky) and Bombardment (literally bombards the basis).



It all seems very complex, but with one game or another you quickly grasp the gameplay and set up a strategy with your friends, and here it can be a problem. I'm not talking about the way of combat, but being able to play in a group, that's because the value of the game is not cheap at all, costing €29,99 in its cheapest version! This, added to other factors, can be quite discouraging and really bad for the developers to leverage this creation to success.

Anyway, each match will last about 7, 8 minutes and can vary between different maps with unique characteristics and the characters will also change between each other according to the player's choice of special ability, for example: the Aku Aku, with health cures and a protective shield.



Many details

It doesn't stop there, there are many details, but it is important to understand that the assimilation of this knowledge is done very quickly and easily. That said, among the main strategies is the collection of boosts, mentioned earlier, which will multiply the delivery of wumpas to the base (so, the characters will have to go to the base to deliver them, also because there is a chargeable limit), that is, facilitating the victory; on the different maps there are different numbers of activatable impulses, in addition to different key points.

In addition, the final score and election of the best player of the match goes through 5 points: collected wumpas, blocked wumpas, activated boosts, collecting keys and knocking out other players. Like this, observing and investing in these points will make your character level up faster, unlocking new items.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that there are few types of matches played in Crash Team Crumble, only passing through training match, competitive match and private match. Therefore, this limitation of modes makes the game very repetitive and, therefore, easy to get bored, especially if you are playing alone, although it is very fun to play some matches without too much commitment.



Personalization

One of the good reasons to keep advancing in the matches and insist on the competitive battles is the fruits that this can bring, I mean, even if the player is not the most crazy about getting a ranking, there are other reasons to continue the gameplay in a relaxed way and still give it your all. 

From this perspective, when we advance a level with a character (a process that is much easier when we score a lot and win a game), we will release several new items associated with the doll, such as new clothes, accessories (in Coco's case: tablet, backpack and hat) and even reactions. It's much more rewarding to play a game knowing that we're after something, in this case, small prizes and visual changes, which can add up to a lot for the player. 



Other aspects

Finally, it is impossible to leave some details out of the question; being a very successful franchise, Crash games have a very well established look by the community, for example, even though it's been years without playing or seeing any news about them, we still associate very well what the game is about, its mechanics, the characters, among others. This happens due to the fact that the developers invest very well in their image, both with regard to the arts and the sound points, that is, in the audiovisual feedback as a whole.

That said, in Crash Team Rumble, the visual impacts of good graphics performance, without bugs and grooves, are very encouraging that leave the game with a unique beauty, especially if we consider how old this franchise is and compare the evolution of each release. The skills are beautiful, the maps and characters equally, not to mention the visual factor that is very striking, especially when we talk about combat movement (which happens at a lot ). Further, the soundtracks and sound during the game are very immersive, the noise of the beating and the narrator speaking captures the attention of any player.

Crash Team Rumble is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.

We would like  to thanks the Activision PR team, who made the game available and enabled the creation of this content.